


before you twist your tongue

by sodun



Series: rarl oneshots [6]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: AU, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-10-02 14:03:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10219841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sodun/pseuds/sodun
Summary: It's crazy how much things can change in a year.





	

**Author's Note:**

> idek man
> 
> i dont think i know how to write happy things anymore
> 
> lyrics & title from the song daughters by the story so far

_Everything changes when all the lights in the room are as low as you  
But don't trip you'll sober up soon  
Regain an honest perspective as you puke on the floor  
Can't remember why your knees are so cut up and sore_

It’s crazy how much things can change in a year.

Ron thinks back to the previous summer, when he and Carl would’ve gone to parties like this together. They’d drink cheap alcohol out of red solo cups and make out in the corner and then Carl would get grounded for sneaking out and being drunk but he’d still sneak out the next night anyway. Back then, he and Carl were almost the same person. They always wanted to do the same things at the same places with the same people. 

Ron begins to wonder when all that changed, but then he supposes he remembers.

Carl distanced himself after the death of his mother, just five months ago. At first, he wouldn’t leave his room, and Ron understood; he was grieving, he wanted to be alone. However, it didn’t take the boy long to get back on his feet, in some respects. Carl returned to his normal life, going to school on weekdays and hanging out with his friends and boyfriend on weekends.

Ron knows the loss of his mother destroyed Carl. He tried to hide it at first; nothing but fake smiles and forced laughs. Ron noticed, all their friends noticed, but no one said anything, no one knew what to say. They’d never lost a parent, they didn’t know how to help the boy. Ron hoped that he’d move on with time.

After a month, Carl called things off with Ron. He told him it wasn’t working out, that he didn’t feel as strongly as he used to. Carl had apologized, a frown on his face, though his eyes were blank. Ron told him it was okay through watery eyes and a tight lipped smile, and that was that. 

Four months later and Ron still hadn’t spoken to Carl. He knew that if Carl wanted to, he’d come to Ron. If he didn’t, then Ron just had to accept that the brunet was done with him. 

Ron watches Carl take a hit from someone’s pipe, and their eyes meet as Carl exhales a cloud of marijuana smoke. Ron’s heart races and Carl makes like he’s going to get up, but then rethinks it and gets comfortable again. He takes another hit, a bigger one this time, then passes the pipe over to someone else. Ron’s heart aches as Carl turns to the boy sitting to his left and kisses him, crawling onto his lap. The guy is shocked but kisses him back, hand’s gripping the brunet’s small hips.

Ron heard the rumors about Carl, but he never believed them, didn’t want to. People told him that Carl slept around a lot. As Ron watches Carl grind against the boy under him, he thinks about when they first started dating and Carl was shy about holding hands. Now, he’s making out with a stranger, and he knows Ron is watching. 

Someone taps Carl’s shoulder and he pulls back, accepting the pill that’s offered to him with a grateful smile. He places it on his tongue and turns to the person seated on his right, taking the cup of beer out of their hand and using it to knock back the pill. The brunet passes the cup back, then returns his focus to the boy underneath him.

Ron tears his eyes away, finishing his drink and heading to the backyard where he knows Enid is waiting.

“Since when does it take that long to get a drink?” She asks when he approaches her, and he can tell by her tone that she’s joking but he doesn’t even smile.

“Sorry,” Ron sighs, running a hand through his hair, “I think I’m gonna go. Can you find another ride?”

Enid stands from her spot on the grass, looking at Ron with concern. “Why? Are you alright?” 

Ron feels the rest of their friends staring at him, so he makes a point of avoiding their eyes. “I saw something I didn’t want to see, and- I need to go. I’ll be fine, I just need to-” He stops his sentence short, turning on his heel and heading back into the house, ignoring Enid calling after him. 

The blond pushes his way to the front of the house, making sure he doesn’t look at Carl again. As he rushes down the street to his car, vision blurred by tears, he thinks about how Carl is probably high as a kite right now, on Xanax or Molly or whatever that pill was. How the boy is probably still kissing that guy, or maybe he’s moved on to someone else. Maybe he’s pulling some nameless guy up the stairs to find an empty bedroom like he’d done with Ron so many times. Maybe Carl is sinking to his knees in front of somebody, to do something he won’t be able to remember in the morning.

Or maybe Carl is thinking about Ron, and how crazy it is that things have changed so drastically in a year.


End file.
